The Year of Moving Forward

At our 4 person wedding reception in DC

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

In Honor of Barack Obama

Picture credit: The Obama Tree

Today. We are one.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Those words are from the Declaration of Independence.

It’s that “all men are created equal” part that we are inching toward today.

Yesterday we heard those words repeated as Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Dream” speech was replayed. “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

Since this post is going up before our president elect’s inaugural speech, a comment on that will come later. For now, in recognition of the historic nature of today, I have put on display the historic flags that we use on such occasions.

Seeing the Capitol draped in flags reminded me that Bessemer should have a display as well. Since I haven't seen any other public displays in honor of Obama, I consider this the official-unofficial tribute from Bessemer, Alabama.

The flags, in order, are the Bennington Flag, that tradition says was flown at the Battle of Bennington (actually fought at Wallomsack, New York, not Bennington, Vermont) in 1777. This is the only U. S. historical flag with white stripes rather than red, as the outer stripes.

The next flag is the Betsy Ross flag, the first official flag of our country, with the circular ring of stars, and flown from June 14, 1777 to May 1, 1795.

The “Star Spangled Banner,” with 15 stars, is next. It inspired a song at Ft. McHenry.

Next is one of the flags that flew during the Civil War. This one has 34 stars. The flag changed a few times during the civil war, as states were added during wartime.

Behind it is the flag that flew during World War II, when my father fought in Europe and the Pacific.

The last flag is the flag with 50 stars that is flying today as Barack Obama becomes our 44th President.